by bgsengine » Thu Mar 03, 2022 8:47 am
I used to rebuild these 1 to 2 a day, 5 days a week during the summer back in the late 1980's, early 1990's ... as long as bolts are clean threads, which they will be if new, and threads in block are clean, you can do what I did, when I began the rebuild, I had a pan of clean 30 weight oil in which I had the ball bearings and all the bolts soaking.... (at summertime room temperature which typically was in the 80's fahrenheit) and when I reached the point of assembling the piece that was gonna use the bolts, Id take all the bolts out and let them "drip dry" on a rag while I prepped the components, then wipe them down with a rag before use... Basically they would just have a thin film of oil (enough left by wiping off with rag, nothing dripping or running) and typically just went to the mid-range of the torque spec (if there was a range) But then most head gaskets for Kohler Cast iron were metal clads, and they didn't really have problems with "squish-out" like graphite gaskets later on did... but when they started going to graphite gaskets, I stopped soaking in oil and just run them in dry (or as dry as the parts washer left them - which was basically mineral spirits) So, if you have modernized graphite head gaskets, I'd say just run them in dry, no oil.
How poor are they who have not patience. What wound did ever heal, but by degrees? - Iago (Othello Act II, Scene 3)